In which she struggles with balancing time.

 The spring time is always extra busy for us. We have a lot of family birthdays during the spring, and add in our annual Missions Conference at church, spring break, Easter, end of the year field trips and parties, and I begin to believe we'll never just have a regular day at home.

I'm trying to find the balance between the things we have to do and the things we need to do. I often confuse the two and find myself overwhelmed because I feel like I no longer own my own time.

And then I become resentful of everyone around me. Being an introvert in a family of six seems contradictory to my existence at times.

But I have to remind myself of perspective... I'm not a victim of circumstances. I have the ability to say no and to choose wisely.

It feels like a very slippery slope right now, because my knee-jerk reaction when our lives are filled with lots of busy-ness is to hide and push away. But I think that there is a way to get what I need and be fulfilled with peace and solace in the One who created those things. And that is the Truth that He promises us.

That is the good news, and what I need to hold onto.

4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. 

(source) 

And the things that I wish to do with my time,  instead of running around like a crazy woman? 

Among them, to spend some time on my front porch (in my new hammock!) reading through a pile of library books. 

And to spend more real time with my little shadows, instead of shuffling them around. 

I don't really want to keep my house cleaner per se, but it is a need. I'm hoping to balance & plan my time more wisely with this app (basically a new interpretation of my SHE file.) 

You can download this app in the iTunes store. It's really awesome. You can set timers on it, have reminders for different chores, and sort out all of your different cleaning zones. Everything's customizable. The great thing about it is that it makes the job feel less overwhelming. 

Anyways, so that's what's on my mind this morning. :)